1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to strike plates for dead bolts and, more particularly, to a steel-reinforced strike plate for dead bolts in wooden door jambs.
2. Prior Art
Conventional strike plates provide little protection against unauthorized entry into a house or building with wooden doorjambs. The strike plate used with most door assemblies consists of a small flat plate provided with an aperture to receive a door latch or dead bolt. The strike plate is typically attached to the doorjamb with several small screws. As such, unauthorized entry into houses and buildings can often be attained merely by striking a hard blow to the door with a heavy object or by kicking the door. The force exerted on the doorjamb by the latch or dead bolt splits the doorjamb in the vicinity of the door latch assembly, thereby allowing the door to open.
Numerous devices have been previously proposed for reinforcing a doorjamb, and many of these devices have achieved varying degrees of success. However, such devices are either externally mounted to the doorjamb thereby affecting the operation and aesthetic appearance of the door or they are mounted on the doorjamb such that forces exerted on the door are not effectively distributed across the doorjamb. To this end, a need has long existed for a doorjamb reinforcing apparatus that is internally mountable and which will effectively distribute forces exerted on a doorjamb during an attempted forced entry. It is to such an improved doorjamb reinforcing apparatus that the present invention is directed.